Joyce Namugambe
The 4 unclaimed bodies of students who were killed in the ADF June attack at Mpondwe Lhubiriha secondary school in Kasese district have been laid to rest after failing to identify them due to severe burning.
The attack that happened on June 16 June 2023 resulted into 44 victims including 38 students and other community members. In this case, 17 bodies were unrecognized which made it hard for them to be identified with their families.
After thorough DNA testing of parents and the remains by the goverment labarotories, 13 remains out of the 17 successfully matched their relatives which were returned to the families for burrials.
One of the bodies of a girl was found partly burried in the jungles of DR Congo and after assuccessful DNA test, it was returned to the family for burial.
However, four bodies remained unclaimed after a thorough DNA test that took a period of over 2 months, and they were kept at Muhoti barracks Mountain division headquarters and because they lacked proper matches for their families, the government resorted to conducting a proper burial for these remains.
The state minister for ICT and National guidance Godfrey Kabbyanga noted that the government got to this decision due to the high costs of mantaining the bodies in the mortuary and emphasised that if the relatives are later identified, the bodies can be exhumed and returned to the families accordingly.
The one in charge of health operations in Shuuja Captain Dr. Daniel Okello emphasised that to ensure potential future matches, each body was labelled with a number during burial.
The Rwenzori West police spokesperson Vicent Twesige called upon families which are still searching for the bodies of their people to provide DNA samples to Mpondwe police station for further testing.
The commander of the operations in Shuuja Maj Gen Olum expressed the dedicated efforts of the security forces in pursuing the rebels since the Mpondwe Lhubiriha secondary school attack.
Basing on the available information, out of the 6 suspected abducted students, three were presumed deceased.
The Kasese district resident commissioner and head of security Lt. Joe Walusimbi assured the public about tightened security measures following the attack.
